Monday, 7 September 2015

Abu Thahir's Social Media posting

This post is an examination of the social media activity of Abu Thahir, the journalist from Kerala who went on to join Al Qaeda's official franchise in Syria, Jabhat Al Nusra (translation: The Support Front).

While most of his postings include: videos of wounded fighters screaming religious slogans, Al Nusra official releases and attacks on the Syrian Army (SAA), there are also postings that focus on India and Kashmir.

His
comments on the domestic politics of India includes references to
"apolitical" Jihadis in Kashmir and elsewhere in India. He also expressed hope that more Indians will
join the Jihad in Syria. His political affiliation with controversial right wing Muslim group the Popular Front of India seems to have influenced his Weltanschauung. The above post translates to :

Still there is hope, a group of people from India will join us in Jihad, they
will chain the Indian leaders (present government) and will take to the
streets. Some of these true jihadis are there in Kashmir and in some
other parts of India. They don't have any politics.

In one of his posts, he compares Indian PM Narendra Modi to Syrian
President Bashar Al Assad. The photo is of civilian casualties during an SyAAF raid (Syrian Arab Air Force).